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Monday, January 21, 2013

Austerity with a class vengeance as benefit cuts bite

Most people were aware that the cuts would be harsh and
affect the most vulnerable in society. But now religious figures around the
country are joining with charities to point to deep privation amongst large
numbers of families, long before the full range of cuts are implemented.

In Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham,
Sheffield and Liverpool, many people are
already experiencing cuts in benefits of £200 to £300 a year. James Jones, the Bishop
of Liverpool, has warned that many cities will suffer from “urban diabetes”, where
blood pumps around the heart but fails to reach other parts of the body.

Thousands of families already rely on food banks to survive
and numbers are growing fast. In Liverpool,
for example, 6,000 families signed up for food parcels in the city in the last six
months alone. Last year, 2011-12 food banks fed 128,687 people nationwide; in
2012-13 it is thought this could rise to nearly a quarter of a million.

The ending of universal benefits with the termination of
child benefit for all – a policy
promoted by the ConDems but accepted by New Labour Mark II – is being disguised
by the introduction of “universal credit”. Within this consolidation of
benefits into one payment are severe reductions in what people can claim.

Housing benefit for private sector tenants is being capped
and most social housing tenants will have to make a contribution to their
council tax. Many families are already deep in debt. It has been left up to
charities to try to help those faced with council bailiffs claiming back
arrears. One local vicar Rev Paul Nicholson in Tottenham, north London, has set up a group
called Taxpayers against Poverty. says that charging council tax to the poor
will result in “debt destitution and forced migration”.

Then there is the “bedroom tax” through which the government
plans to claw back £500m a year from the housing benefit bill. People in
council homes who are said to be “under-occupying” will charged £11-£20 per
week unless they move to a smaller home. The financial
and psychological effects of such a deeply intrusive measure is of course
not acknowledged by the government’s “impact assessment”.

In areas like Derby,
the housing support budget is being cut by 83% per cent over the next two
years. Local charities describe it as “catastrophic”. Homelessness is rising,
particularly among vulnerable young people who will no longer quality for
services. (Cameron has famously proclaimed that no one under 25 years of age
will qualify for housing benefits of any kind.) In 2012-13, five out of ten homelessness
services had their funding cut.

The most vulnerable people in the firing line are the
disabled. Building on the policies of the previous Labour government, people
with disabilities are being subjected to horrendous tests by Atos. Last week
former Labour Minister Michael Meacher said that 3,500 have died during the
assessment process itself and another 7,100 died after being judged to be
entitled to unconditional support because they are too ill or disabled to work.

Chief executive of Citizens Advice, Gillian Guy, has said Atos
has given grounds for concern: “Last quarter, Citizens Advice bureaux
had more than 100,000 inquiries about Employment and Support Allowance – a rise
of 76%. More than 21,000 were appeals against decisions based on Atos
assessments, mistakes that are subsequently overturned and have cost the
taxpayer £60m over the past year.”

For many all the future holds is thus a spiral of deepening
poverty and debt. The failure to increase benefits in line with inflation means
there is a massive transfer of wealth going on. Cuts in benefits to reduce the
budget deficit are essentially the price paid to the bankers to help pay for
the financial crisis they created. This is austerity with a class vengeance at
the heart of it.

A corporate-driven market state has replaced the old welfare
state. It will take a complete transfer of power to ordinary people before we
can even think of a future better than the one the mainstream parties have laid
out before our eyes.

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